Troubleshooting the Turbo 601:Most Commonly Asked Technical Questions

QUESTION: When I try booting off my System 7.5
Disk Tools diskette, it tells me that this disk will not
work with this Macintosh. What do I do to make this
work?

ANSWER: You need to build a "bootable Floppy"
diskette. To do this copy the System Folder from the
System 7.5 Disk Tools diskette to your desktop. Eject the
Disk Tools diskette and insert a new high density
diskette (name this diskette "T601 Startup"). Copy the
System Folder from the desktop (the one you just copied
from the System 7.5 Disk Tools diskette) to the T601
Startup diskette. Copy the Turbo 601 System Enabler
(which you will find located on your startup hard drive
in the System Folder) to the root level of the System
Folder on the T601 Startup diskette. You will now be able
to use this T601 Startup diskette as a bootable floppy in
Turbo 601 mode.

QUESTION: What do I do if I get the system
error "Floating Point Coprocessor not installed" and then a
system crash in System 7.5?

ANSWER: Clearing (or zapping) the Parameter RAM
should resolve this problem. To clear the Parameter RAM
press COMMAND - OPTION - P - R keys simultaneously during
the complete startup sequence. Once you hear the third
bong or startup sound release the pressed keys. Nonnative
software will not recognize the 601 FPU, nor will it look
to the motherboard to see if it has one. The software
will use the PowerPC 601 chip's emulation, which does not
emulate a 68040 FPU. You will need to purchase SoftFPU
(you can find information about SoftFPU on many on-line
services). If you are still having this problem do a
clean install of System 7.5. To do this, hold down the
COMMAND - SHIFT - K keys while doing a custom install
selecting "System for any Macintosh". Using System Update
1.0 for System 7.5 replaces the math library with a new
native math library which resolves most of these
problems.

QUESTION: I upgraded from a Turbo 040 to a
Turbo 601. The speed in native applications is good, but my
older applications are running slower. Why?

ANSWER: A Turbo 601 66 MHz emulates at approximately
the speed of a 25 MHz 68040. A Turbo 601 100 MHz emulates
at approximately the speed of a 33 MHz 68040. You need to
upgrade all of your software to the PowerPC native
version, where possible, and check with the vendor of any
3rd party hardware to verify that the hardware is PowerPC
601 compatible in order to take full advantage of the
PowerPC 601 chip.

QUESTION: I installed a DayStar Turbo 601 board
and now some of my existing hardware does not work properly.
What should I do?

QUESTION: I am not seeing much of a performance
increase with the Turbo 601 installed. What is slowing it
down?

ANSWER: Make sure you are running native software and
verify that it was installed for the PowerPC 601. Make
sure your video board is accelerated (not just
compatible) for PowerPC. Try disabling different CDEVs
and INITs. Several Control Panel Devices (CDEVs)
drastically reduce PowerPC performance, especially if
they are nonnative. Three of these files are CloseView,
Easy Access and World Script. These three files were
probably installed during the System 7.5
installation.

QUESTION: I am getting Type 11 and Bus errors.
What should I do to correct this problem?

ANSWER: Disable all 3rd party CDEVs and INITs and
restart. It may be a software conflict.

QUESTION: I am getting a bus error on boot and
the dialog box tells me to restart with extensions off. I
reboot holding down the shift key but I get the same error?
What should I do to correct this problem?

ANSWER: Remove all NuBus boards and disconnect any
external SCSI devices. If possible, use onboard video. If
you still get the same error, build a bootable floppy and
boot off of it. If either of these tests work then the
Turbo 601 is probably working properly. The problem is
either hardware or software that is not PowerPC 601
compatible. Contact your hardware/software vendor for a
compatible upgrade. If you still get the same message, it
may be a defective board. If within 30 days of purchase
contact your dealer or contact DayStar Technical Support
at 770-967-2077 for repair or replacement of the
board.

QUESTION: Does the PowerPC 601 chip have an
FPU?

ANSWER: Native applications are written to recognize
the 601's FPU. If you are running native software you
will have an FPU. If you are running nonnative software
you will NOT have an FPU because emulated software
expects an 68040 FPU which is only present when running
software called SoftFPU (you can find information about
SoftFPU on many on-line services).

QUESTION: I installed a DayStar Turbo 601 board
and now it appears that I have an INIT conflict. What should
I do?

ANSWER: If you have an INIT conflict, verify that
your software is PowerPC 601 compatible. Contact your
software/hardware vendor for a compatible upgrade. Using
nonnative INITs greatly reduces system performance. If no
PowerPC upgrade is available the Macintosh can be
restarted in 68030 mode. This is a feature of the Turbo
601 Control Panel.

QUESTION: I installed a DayStar Turbo 601 board
and now I get random system errors and system crashes. Is
there something wrong with my board?

ANSWER: Probably not. Make sure System 7.5 was
installed by doing a clean install. To do this, hold down
the COMMAND - SHIFT - K keys while doing a custom install
selecting "System for any Macintosh". For details refer
to Apple's manuals.

QUESTION: What is the latest version of DayStar
software for Turbo 601?

ANSWER: The current version of our Turbo 601 software
is version 1.1. For more details read TSB 101.

QUESTION: Norton System Info says my machine is
running slower than a Quadra 605. What benchmark software
should I use?

ANSWER: There are several technical issues regarding
the Turbo 601 and the Norton System Info benchmark
utility. For several different reasons, System Info does
not report reliable benchmark information. When the
emulated version of System Info is installed on
pre-upgrade non-PowerPC machines, it will not perform
native-mode tests on the PowerPC chip. Further, FPU
results vary depending upon which version of the System
7.5 math library you have installed. Other internal
problems cause Norton System Info to report
less-than-real-world performance on the CPU index.
DayStar recommends testing with the widely recognized
3.0 benchmark. 3.0, a product of
Ziff-Davis Labs is available from the Ziff-Davis
site on the World Wide Web.

QUESTION: How much of a performance gain will I
see with a Turbo 601 66/100 MHz?

ANSWER We have a performance gains chart on our
Faxback System showing stock machine, 68040 and 601
products. Ask for document #9030. This information is
also available on our World Wide Web home page at
http://www.daystar.com.

QUESTION: Do I need system 7.5?

ANSWER: Yes, because it is required for PowerPC 601
operation. System 7.5 is not included with the Turbo 601.
Install System 7.5 doing a clean install. To do this,
hold down the COMMAND - SHIFT - K keys while doing a
custom install selecting "System for any Macintosh".

QUESTION: I purchased a Turbo 601 which
requires System 7.5. Doesn't System software come with the
Turbo 601?

ANSWER: No. The Turbo 601 IIsi Adapter board plugs
into the PDS of the Mac IIsi and then the Turbo 601 plugs
into the only slot on the adapter board.

QUESTION: I have a Turbo 601 installed on a
IIvx and I only get 256 colors in Turbo 601 mode. I get
thousands of colors in 030 mode. Am I doing something
wrong?

ANSWER: No, you are not doing anything wrong. There
is a fix for this problem. It does require that we
replace parts on the board. To accomplish this fix,
contact Tech Support via fax at 770-967-3018. We will
send you a form stating everything that you need to do to
send the board in.

QUESTION: Is the FWB SCSI JackHammer board
compatible with the Turbo 601?

ANSWER: Yes. The "Enable SCSI Manager 4.3" checkbox
must be checked in the Turbo 601 Control Panel to enable
the use of the JackHammer board. Be sure to read chapter
5 of the Turbo 601 User Manual for more information.